-Caveat Lector- >http://www.thestandard.com > Tuesday, November 21, 2000 > > Borderless Net, RIP? > > The buzzwords "borderless Internet" may soon be as dead as Y2K hype. > Yahoo has 90 days to block French users from auctions of Nazi > artifacts - sale of racist items is illegal in France - or start > paying $13,000 a day in fines. Now there's an operating loss. > > French judge Jean-Jacques Gomez upheld his ruling from earlier this > year. Enforcement of that ruling was postponed until a three-person, > international panel could wrangle over the technical aspects of the > block. The panel, depending on which outlet you read, declared that > Yahoo could keep 70 percent or 90 percent of French users away from > the offending material. The U.K.'s Guardian explained away the > statistical confusion. The panel said "it would be possible to block > up to 70 percent of French Web surfers from the offending pages by > using a filter to identify the address of their ISP," said the > Guardian's Jon Henley. "A further 20 percent could be blocked by > checking the keywords used in their searches, and through a voluntary > declaration of nationality surfers would be asked to complete before > entering the site." There, was that so hard? > > The San Jose Mercury News noted that "Monday's court order called for > Yahoo to make it 'impossible' for French users to access the portions > of the U.S. site that contain the Nazi content," so 90 percent might > not cut it. Yahoo spokespeople explained to everyone who would listen > that the keyword "Nazi" also brings up Anne Frank's diary. The Wall > Street Journal gave a good rundown of the technical hassle - or human > monitoring - required for enforcement of the court order. The judge > was unsympathetic, possibly because, as the New York Times observed, > he noticed that Yahoo can recognize French surfers well enough to > serve them francophone banner ads. > > Many reporters agreed that panelist and old-school Net guru Vinton > Cerf wasn't happy with the idea of regulating Net content. He wasn't > the only one. "The ruling yesterday amounted to the first attempt by > any country to impose international censorship on the World Wide Web," > said the Times of London. Reuters' Crispian Balmer led with a > paraphrase from a Yahoo France exec: "A French court has taken the > first dangerous step toward imposing national boundaries on the > frontier-free Internet." Even the most objective articles cast an eye > toward what sort of precedent this sets for Web sites' accountability > to widely varying international laws. Maybe none, if Yahoo lawyer Greg > Wrenn is correct that the ruling has to be enforced by a U.S. court, > since the Yahoo has no assets in France. There may also be an appeal, > the attorney told BBC News Online. > > One French human-rights group is already choosing its next target. > Maybe Amazon, a spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal. The > organization said that Amazon allows Nazi-oriented auctions, too. > "He's got to be misinformed about that," shot back an Amazon > spokeswoman, saying Amazon removes such auctions. ZDNet took a more > detailed look at eBay and at Amazon's strategies to block French users > from Nazi nasties. An eBay spokesperson acknowledged that its > solutions are imperfect, but French activists have left them alone. > Maybe 90 percent is enough after all. - Jen Muehlbauer > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Yahoo Told to Block Nazi Goods From French > http://tm0.com/thestandard/sbct.cgi?s=64359217&i=279653&d=643138 > > French Court Rules Against Yahoo! > http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3JGPOTSFC > > Judge Orders Yahoo! to Block Sale of Nazi Items (AP) > http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/business/yaho21.shtml > > Court to Yahoo: Use Nazi Filter (Reuters) > http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,40285,00.html > > French Uphold Ruling Against Yahoo on Nazi Sites > http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/21/technology/21YAHO.html > (Registration required.) > > Yahoo! Loses Nazi Auction Case > http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/11/20/france.yahoo.02/index.html > > French Court Orders Yahoo! to Block Sale of Nazi Items > http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB974734994696716115.htm > (Paid subscription required.) > > Ban on Yahoo! Nazi Site > http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,400649,00.html > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Copyright 2000 The Industry Standard -- MEDIA GROK <www.thestandard.com> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > >******* <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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